How to Become an Expressive Arts Therapist

How do I Become an Expressive Arts Therapist?

If you’re wondering how to become an expressive arts therapist, the path is more accessible than you might think. Unlike traditional art therapy, you don’t need an arts background to get started. Here’s what the training involves.

Educational Requirements

• No art prerequisites required
• Often no psychology prerequisites either
• A master’s in expressive arts therapy on the clinical track (such as CIIS in San Francisco, where I went!)
• A specified number of practicum hours during your program (program dependent)
• 3,000 supervised postgraduate hours (in California; varies by state)
• Your licensing exam (I have to be honest, it’s tough, but worth it if this is your calling.)

The big advantage of the Expressive Arts path over a degree in Art Therapy is that you can come from any background, such as law, literature, business, or science, to enter this field. (I came from law, with a Spanish Literature B.A., )

Another pathway is to earn your master’s in counseling first, then pursue a specialization in expressive arts therapy. This approach takes longer, typically an additional year to a year and a half to complete the certification.

Becoming an expressive art therapist typically takes about three years for the master’s program, followed by additional supervised clinical hours before licensure. It’s a significant commitment, but the training prepares you to develop skills that can translate into private practice, hospital settings, schools, community organizations, and more.

What Makes Expressive Art Therapy Different?

When you become an expressive art therapist, you learn to work with five different creative modalities:

1. Visual arts: painting, drawing, collage, sculpture and more
2. Movement and dance: body-based expression and somatic work
3. Music and sound: rhythm, voice, playlists and singing.
4. Drama: psycho-drama, improve, role play, performance and enacted stories.
5. Narrative and poetry: writing, storytelling and spoken word.

This range of modalities is where the magic happens. You get to create a completely unique healing approach with each person. Not everyone connects with visual art for example. Some people process through movement. Others need sound or music. Some need to write it out or act it out. When you have all five modalities in your toolkit, you’ve got flexibility to meet people where they actually are.

When you engage in the creative process, your brain releases dopamine and serotonin, the “feel-good” neurotransmitters that regulate mood and support emotional balance. At the same time, your amygdala, your brain’s alarm system, starts to quiet down. The result? Less hypervigilance. Less anxiety.

Here’s why this matters for trauma recovery. PTSD often keeps the nervous system stuck on high alert. When you work with imagery, color, texture, and sensory materials, you’re giving your body a way to discharge that stored charge. You’re helping your system remember that it’s okay to come down, to feel calm, to connect again.

The Core Principles (AKA: The Good Stuff)

First things first. We need to address two limiting beliefs that come up constantly:

1. “I’m not good at art”
2. “I’m not an artist”

Let me tell you this. This work has nothing to do with being good at art or being an artist. It’s about the process, not the product.

Process over product. Always. We focus on the experience of creating, not the final piece. This removes so much self-judgment and opens up the heart for healing.

As expressive arts therapists, we value the journey of expression, not how “good” something looks. Instead of asking “what does this mean?” we ask “how does this feel?” We don’t critique or analyze art. We connect to the felt experience.

This gets clients out of their heads and into more body-based awareness. This distinction is important because trauma memories are stored in areas beyond our conscious, logical thinking. They reside in the creative right brain and the limbic system, where verbal processing alone may not reach them.

When you remove performance pressure, something shifts. People can create without fear, with more authenticity. And this helps everyone, not just people who consider themselves artistic. We’re all born creative. We just need permission to remember that.

How Expressive Arts Therapy Works in Practice

Let’s make this concrete. Say someone’s feeling nervous, guilty, or ashamed. You might invite them to draw how that feeling sits in their body. What color is it? What shape? They put it on the page so they can see it outside of themselves.

Now they’re not blended with it anymore. They can get curious about it, understand it, even have a conversation with it.

Instead of jumping to “what does this mean?” you stay open: “I wonder what this is about? What might be happening here?” The work stays curious rather than analytical. That’s where the good stuff happens.

How Art Therapy Differs from Expressive Arts Therapy 

• Art therapy is a complementary but separate discipline. For those considering both options, art therapy requires the following:
• Prerequisites in studio work (usually 12-18 units)
• Some psychology prerequisites (developmental psych, abnormal psych, etc.). It varies by program)
• A master’s degree in art therapy from a program that meets national art therapy standards
• A specified number of practicum hours during your program (program dependent)
• 3,000 hours of supervised postgraduate work (in California; varies by state)
• The licensing exam

Art therapy focuses predominantly on visual arts. It’s a more structured path that requires a strong visual arts background going in.

Both paths lead to meaningful careers in creative healing. The main differences are the prerequisites and training philosophy. Your scope of practice and job opportunities will be similar with either path.

Consider Art Therapy if:

• You have a strong visual arts background or want to build one
• You prefer a more structured approach
• You want to focus specifically on visual media

Consider Expressive Arts Therapy if:

• You come from a different background (non-arts or even non-psychology)
• You’re interested in multiple creative modalities
• You like flexibility in how you work
• You may already have a therapy degree and want to add this specialization

Where You Can Work

Let’s bust a big myth right now: expressive arts therapy and art therapy aren’t just for kids. That’s completely false. This work applies across all ages, all cultures, all diagnoses.

Because it’s not solely verbal, you’ve got more flexibility. You can work with people who are selectively mute, who have language barriers, who just process better through non-verbal means.

Settings and Populations

This work can be applied in diverse settings:

• Schools and educational institutions
• Hospitals and medical centers
• Community organizations serving survivors of trauma and violence
• Law enforcement and first responder programs
• Faith-based communities
  Private practice
• Corporate wellness and burnout prevention
• Therapist training and supervision

You can work with groups addressing addiction, PTSD, depression, anxiety, attachment disorders, grief, workplace trauma, and more.

Real-World Applications

This work shows up in creative ways everywhere. In hospitals, we create calm spaces in waiting areas where families can use art to regulate their nervous systems during medical crises. In labor and delivery, body-based art interventions like belly casting help partners connect during pregnancy. Community art projects help people express what they need and want to bring into their lives.

The work adapts to whatever population and setting you’re in. Law enforcement uses it to process vicarious trauma. Clergy bring it to congregations for healing intergenerational wounds. Schools use it for students who can’t verbally express what they’re experiencing.

Here’s the beautiful part: creativity is endless, so what you can do with this work is endless too.

Choosing Your Path

Becoming an expressive art therapist is a commitment. It takes several years to complete training and get licensed. But if you’re drawn to using creativity as a vehicle for healing, this work offers depth, flexibility, and the ability to meet people exactly where they are.

And honestly? If you’re still reading this, you’re probably already feeling the pull. I know I did, and I am so grateful I followed it.

Want More Support on Your Journey?

If you’re feeling drawn to this path and want guidance navigating the process, I offer creative career coaching for aspiring expressive art therapists. We can talk through your specific situation and create a roadmap for your journey. Sign up for a free 15-20 min consult here.

For more on this topic, watch my full YouTube video on Becoming an Expressive Arts Therapist here or visit my Expressive Arts Therapy page.